Ma-nā'tus, n.

n.; pl. MA-NĀ'TĪ. [N. Lat. See MANATEE.] (Zoöl.) A gregarious aquatic animal, like the whale, but herbivorous. It is so called because of its hand-shaped flipper, or fore fin. The Manatus Americanus is found about tropical South America; the M. Senegalensis, on the opposite shores of Africa; the Halicore dugong, in the Indian Ocean. It is used for food, and hunted for its fat. It is commonly called the sea-cow.